The Padres nearly wasted a career performance by Eric Stults, but Will Venable's walk-off RBI single clinched a 3-2, 10-inning victory over the Mariners on Wednesday at Petco Park.

The Good:

Missing bats. Entering Wednesday, Eric Stults' season-high for strikeouts in a game was seven. His career-high was nine. It took him just 88 pitches to set a new career-high, as the lefty reached double-digit K's in the top of the seventh. He finished with 12 strikeouts over eight innings. Granted, this came against a Mariners lineup employing Kelly Shoppach as the five-hitter, but credit Stults for hitting his spots tonight; he didn't issue a ball-four among his 106 pitches (68 strikes).

Stoppers. Wednesday's clunker of an offensive show did include more strong play from two of the best defensive shortstops in baseball. Even as he went 0-for-3 at the plate, Seattle's Brendan Ryan, who last season won a Fielding Bible Award as the majors' best fielding shortstop, lived up to that billing by making a number of slick plays on the left side. Cabrera, who went down swinging with the bases loaded in the eighth, wasn't afforded as many opportunities to show off his range, but still impressed on a couple of strong throws. It should be noted that, in the bottom of the 10th, Cabrera sneaked a single by Ryan when the latter vacated his spot on a hit-and-run.

The Bad:

At a loss. Huston Street hadn't pitched for eight days since notching consecutive, hitless saves. More than a week later, it's clear he still hasn't solved his home-run problem. Jason Bay's solo shot to lead off the ninth was the seventh homer Street has given up this season. The closer remains 11-for-12 in save opportunities, but it hasn't been nearly that easy. In 20 innings, his strikeout-to-homer ratio is an unsightly 13:7.

Punchless. First, it was Aaron Harang. Wednesday, it was Joe Saunders, not exactly a world-beater himself. Against the two typically hittable pitchers, the Padres mustered just eight hits in this series, their lone run supplied by a Chase Headley home run on an 0-2 mistake by Saunders. The pitching duel of the home-and-home set had figured to arrive Thursday, with Felix Hernandez and Andrew Cashner squaring off. It arrived a day early, thanks to a lack of punch by the Padres offense, which later came up empty with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.